Directed By Richard Linklater

Starring – Ethan Hawke, Margaret Qualley, Bobby Cannavale

The Plot – Tells the story of Lorenz Hart’s (Hawke) struggles with alcoholism and mental health as he tries to save face during the opening of “Oklahoma!”.

Rated R for adult language and sexual references

BLUE MOON | Official Trailer (2025)

POSITIVES

Admittedly, having very little previously attained knowledge on the arts scene of the 1940’s, there was a vested interest in the parallels of the project that works especially towards the movie’s favor, paying my curiosity off remarkably with Linklater once again writing some of the most entertainingly engaging and authentic dialogue that breathes life into these elaborate characters. Like his previous films, “Blue Moon” is another driven extensively by a series of conversations used to articulate the realities and depth within these characters and their world-building, without deliberately coming out and telling us so, featuring rhythmic consistencies and naturalized topical transitions weaving in and out of the bold personality and character study of Hart, that clues us into some evidential realities about the masquerade that was his life as a not-so-closeted gay man living in an anything but accepting industry. Linklater spends ample time fleshing out commentary of his own towards respective films and songs of the era, sampling the kind of unapologetic humor that his legions of fans have come to know him for, all the while emulating a stage sensibility to its constructive outline, that mirrors the realities of Hart’s life self-imposed for being the so-called greatest script for a play that one could capably conjure. The film also faces the ambitious task of a single-stage dominant setting throughout roughly 98% of the film’s entirety, with this bar feeling like the home away from home for the diagnosed alcoholic, with a constantly shuffling of colorful characters and background extras, that give it a lived-in sense of authenticity that extends far past the captive constructs of the camera’s framing. What’s important to note is that the film doesn’t seem claustrophobically condensed, as a result of its permanent setting, with many compelling angles of interacting characters for Lorenz to casually bounce off of, all the while sampling the elegant tastes of its lavishly detailed decoration, which the camera articulates effortlessly towards feeling homely enough to never want to leave. While Linklater takes us throughout every room that the bar has to offer, seemingly as a way to inscribe privacy to some of the more personal conversations between Lorenz and his cohorts, the most meaningful impression to his cause is supplanted in the intricacies of the framing, particularly its use to illustrate the world surrounding Lorenz that appears to move on with or without his influence, supplanting a tragic underlining to the story that inspires empathy towards the protagonist, despite Linklater not afraid to equally flesh out the annoying neurosis that alienates him from so many other characters. He also goes remarkable lengths towards bringing Lorenz to life in the air of Hawke’s performance, without compromising the focus and integrity of the tone, enacting subtly effective camera tricks and even manipulating set decoration, in order to emulate Hart’s short stature. While Linklater could easily make him a normal sized person, with very few members of the audience dejected by the decision, Hart’s short and scrawny size plays a vital role towards conveying the way that others who take advantage of him see him as a celebrated artist, especially when multiple characters are enveloped in conversations without him, showing Lorenz looking up at them with neglecting curiosity and even jealousy, and it’s the first time in a long time in a film where I’ve felt the anxieties and insecurities of a character based on the realities of their appearance, making Hart feel every bit as lonely as any resolution between him and characters throughout their emotionally versatile interactions. On the air of its decorated performances, Ethan Hawke gives what I truly feel is his best performance to date, while disappearing seamlessly into the quirky nuances of the character, and one that is undoubtedly deserving of awards acclaim, especially considering in recent years that the Academy have opened themselves up to nominating at least one performance in the comedy genre to the Best Actor category. Hawke’s unwavering empathy and sharp-tongued charisma within Lorenz’ artistic perseverance is his single most admirable feature in his approach to character, conveying an overwhelming transparency of palpable agony towards a visionary seeking a place of his own, on-stage and off of it, and with childlike ambition and wonder to ideas that materialize imaginatively in his very adult mind, there’s an unpredictability factor about the character that makes constantly compelling, instead of interchangeably pitiful, providing a much deeper and transforming approach to familiarity than anything that the actor has attempted.

NEGATIVES

While “Blue Moon” did manage to maintain my vested interests throughout the duration of its dialogue-driven engagement, there are some underwhelming aspects to its execution that took a bit of the air out of its artistic ambition, particularly an imbalance among the many character talking points, which in turn undercut the magnitude of the movie’s supporting performances. Miles will vary accordingly with which conversations appeal to particular audiences, but because I found the dynamic between Lorenz and his love interest, Elizabeth (Played by Qualley), to be lacking in the focus of the narrative, especially considering how repeatedly mentioned she is by Lorenz to others, I found that to be the arc most in need of more attention to the run time, especially considering the mesmerizing Qualley is deduced here to two forgettable scenes, in which she’s tragically underutilized for such a force of nature in recent years. While I understand the arc between Lorenz and Sam Rogers (Also an underutilized Andrew Scott) to carry an importance to the history of the movie’s protagonist, I easily found it the least interesting aspect of this extensive world-building, especially in the ways it continuously halts the momentum of every other arc orbiting it, in order to further convey the jealousy that was overwhelming Hart at such a tender time. On top of a mismanagement with screen time, the film carries with it the consistency of cliche among almost all biopics to inscribe a series of not-so-subtle winks and nods to the audience, with regards to hinting towards future uncovered truths about characters, and considering it attempts this feat three different times throughout the experience, seemingly as a way for audiences to bask in a laugh where the dialogue might not be inspiring them, it makes Linklater feel a bit uncomfortable in the exploits of his writing, a fact that is all the more disappointing considering I personally reveled in the humor of the conversations. I compare it to something like “Forest Gump”, where the titular protagonist was responsible for many of the best and worst things that happened to the world, and while both movies are comedies, the effects here work against the movie’s favor by constantly pulling us out of the depth of the established dynamics, going to the well far too often on ironies that didn’t require repetition to further sell them. Finally, the script commits one glaring problematic instance during its opening scene, in which it depicts the inevitable ending of Hart’s story, and while everyone knows that the composer is no longer a part of the world, I feel that showing its hand in the initial moments of the movie was not only a cheap way of indulging audiences into the story, but also undercut the magnitude of the tragic element of Hart’s lasting memory, making me wish Linklater saved it for when its impact could be felt the loudest and most profound.

OVERALL
“Blue Moon” is a dialogue-driven backstage pass of A character study about the insecurities of creative genius, particularly with converging elements of artistic absolving and unrequited love, that inscribe a bit more tragedy than we’re used to with Linklater comedies. While the naturalism of the engaging dialogue, and extensive capture of the single stage setting goes a long way to attaining insight towards Lorenz Hart, even at the cost of A stacking of underutilized supporting characters in its cause, the career-defining performance from Ethan Hawke serves as the muse behind its magic, wielding awards ambition as a result of a fully-fledged transformation into the composer that feels like more of a resurrection rather than impression.

My Grade: 7.6 or B